Digital Commons Network^™

Teaching Cultural Competency In Legal Clinics, Cynthia Pay

Journal of Law and Social Policy

Aims to identify various models of cultural competency training, and to reflect on ways to appropriately and effectively address this subject in a clinical legal education setting.

The Effectiveness Of The International Criminal Court And The Impact Of The Initiating Entities, Magret Chingono

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Human Rights Advocacy Networks On The Prosecution Of Conflict-Related Sexual Violence In International Criminal Courts, Jessica Welker

Dissertations and Theses

"This thesis explores how human rights advocacy organizations have influenced the increased prosecution of conflict-related sexual violence in international criminal courts. This thesis will use the cases of the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY), the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to demonstrate that well-established international human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and legal coalitions have been the primary actors in transnational human rights advocacy networks to influence the investigation and prosecution of conflict-related sexual violence in international criminal courts. The objective of the thesis is to focus on the major players in human …

Valuing Foreign Lives, Arden Rowell, Lesley Wexler

Georgia Law Review

Should government actors allocate scarce domestic resources to protect the lives of foreign persons? This Article argues that foreign life valuation poses distinctive psychological, philosophical, social, political, and economic challenges, and analyzes current U.S. practices of foreign life valuation in light of these challenges. After identifying multiple possible methods of foreign life valuation, we suggest that the best default valuation method would allocate domestic resources according to domestic willingness to pay to protect foreign lives.

Moral Touchstone, Not General Deterrence: The Role Of International Criminal Justice In Fostering Compliance With International Humanitarian Law, Chris Jenks

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

This article contends that international criminal justice provides minimal general deterrence of future violations of international humanitarian law (IHL). Arguments that international courts and tribunals deter future violations – and that such deterrence is a primary objective – assume an internally inconsistent burden that the processes cannot bear, in essence setting international criminal justice up for failure. Moreover, the inherently limited number of proceedings, the length of time required, the dense opinions generated, the relatively light sentences and the robust confinement conditions all erode whatever limited general deterrence international criminal justice might otherwise provide. Bluntly stated, thousands of pages of …

Monitoring, Reporting, And Fact-Finding: Does The Human Rights Council Report On Human Rights In North Korea Provide A Template For The Sri Lankan Investigation?, Chris Jenks

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

2014 has already heralded two significant developments related to monitoring, reporting, and fact-finding (MRF) mechanisms for collecting information on alleged international law violations. First, the Human Rights Council (HRC) published their “Report of the detailed findings of the commission of inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” in February. This report may provide a roadmap for the second important development, the HRC’s decision in March to investigate alleged international law violations during the final phase of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka. More broadly, both these efforts offer lessons for any group or body participating in …

The Janus Moon Rising - Why 2014 Heralds United States' Detention Policy On A Collision Course...With Itself, Chris Jenks

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

2014 will serve as a test of the United States’ claims that its detention policy is consistent with the law of armed conflict (LOAC). If, as President Obama has repeatedly stated, U.S. involvement in the armed conflict in Afghanistan will end this year, then any LOAC based detention of belligerents linked solely to that conflict ends as well. That should mean the release or transfer of members of the Taliban currently detained at Guantanamo. It won’t.

The Constitutionality Of Negotiated Criminal Judgments In Germany, Thomas Weigend, Jenia I. Turner

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

In a long-awaited judgment, the German Constitutional Court in 2013 upheld the constitutionality of the 2009 German law authorizing the negotiation of criminal judgments between the court and the parties. In this Article, we provide background on recent developments in “plea bargaining” law and practice in Germany and offer a critique of the Court’s decision.

The Court attempted to rein in negotiated judgments by giving the statute a literal reading, emphasizing the limitations it places on negotiations, and strictly prohibiting any consensual disposition outside the statutory framework. The Court builds its judgment on the notion that the search for truth, …

Interstate Conflict And Cooperation In Criminal Cases: An American Perspective, Jenia I. Turner

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Over the last decade, the European Union has adopted legislation that calls for the mutual recognition of arrest warrants, investigation orders, and penal judgments. These laws have aimed to strengthen the Union’s response to transnational crime, and EU policymakers are currently considering legislation to further harmonize the Union's law enforcement efforts. This Article compares these developments within the EU to the U.S. legal framework on mutual recognition in criminal matters. It examines the individual, state and systemic interests that U.S. state courts have considered in deciding whether to recognize other states' judgments, warrants, or investigative actions. These competing interests have …

Limits On The Search For Truth In Criminal Procedure: A Comparative View, Jenia I. Turner

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Across diverse legal traditions, the search for truth is a basic function of the criminal process. Uncovering the truth about the charged crime is regarded as an essential precondition to achieving justice, enforcing criminal law, and legitimating the verdict. Yet while truthseeking is a broadly accepted goal in the criminal process, no system seeks the truth at all costs. The search for truth must on occasion yield to considerations related to efficiency, democratic participation, and protection of individual rights.

Different jurisdictions around the world show different preferences with respect to the tradeoffs between these values and the search for truth …

Accountability Of International Prosecutors, Jenia I. Turner

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

The dilemma of holding prosecutors accountable while ensuring their independence was at the center of the debates surrounding the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The drafters of the Rome Statute for the ICC understood that the Court would be handling cases with significant political implications and yet working with limited resources and no independent enforcement capacity. To enhance prosecutors’ ability to operate successfully in this environment, the drafters enshrined prosecutorial independence into the Statute and gave prosecutors significant discretion over charging and investigation decisions. At the same time, drafters worried that ICC prosecutors were not sufficiently accountable to …

Indicator Analysis For Unpacking Poverty In New York City, Jochen Albrecht, Mimi Abramovitz

Publications and Research

This article presents work that is part of a larger and ongoing research agenda exploring the persistence of health and social problems in some parts of New York City. To this end, the authors have developed a GIS framework that translates a highly diverse set of variables into neighborhood indicators that can help local residents as well as decision makers to understand the relationship between “place” and individual behavior. Using the example of two new indices, Community Loss and Neighborhood Risks, the readers will learn how data can be transformed to emphasize the communal nature of phenomena that is typically …

New York Police Department Stop, Question, And Frisk Program: Experiences Across Race And Gender, Thomas Mrozla

Theses and Dissertations

There is an ongoing discussion on how race influences the likelihood of police contact. The findings of the existing literature on how race influences the likelihood of contact with the police is fairly mixed. Although much literature exists on race alone, we know little about how different policing strategies are experienced by males and females. This research explores the effect that a suspect's gender and race will have on the likelihood that a stop will result in the suspect being frisked, arrested, or have force used against them in the five boroughs of New York City. The data for this …

Perceptions Of Cold Case Work In Mississippi Law Enforcement, Lindsey Pittman

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to see whether law enforcement personnel in Mississippi believe cold case units and, specifically, analysts are beneficial and worthwhile. This study will focus primarily on whether having used the Mississippi Cold Case Unit (MCCU) has had an impact on people’s perception of analysts and analytical methods within the law enforcement community. The study was conducted through the use of an online survey using Qualtrics Research Suite (Appendix A).The responses were then analyzed using the statistical software GraphPad Prism 6. Responses showed that there is very little difference in perception of the MCCU between those …

Police Blotter, Unlv Department Of Police Services

Police Blotter

No abstract provided.

Behavioral And Mental Health In Nevada, David Caloiaro, Luana Ritch

Social Health of Nevada Reports

Until recently, the Nevada Division of Mental Health and Developmental Services (MHDS) was the public provider of mental health, substance abuse and developmental services. On July 1, 2013, the delivery of the mental health, substance abuse and developmental services in Nevada was restructured on several levels. With this reorganization, Developmental Services for persons with intellectual disabilities was transitioned into the Aging and Disability Services Division (ADSD), while mental health and substance abuse services were integrated to become Behavioral Health. Behavioral Health was then merged with the public health from the State Health Division to form the new Division of Public …

Racial Discrimination And The Death Penalty: An Analysis Of The United States' Judicial System, Jessica Recarey, Nerses Kopalyan

McNair Poster Presentations

Racial discrimination plays a role in the administration of the death penalty. This research analyzes the history, and past scholarly research, of the death penalty. The purpose of this research is to understand the correlation between racial discrimination and those sentenced to death. This study includes a literature review regarding the different aspects of the death penalty and race. Following the literature review, an analysis is performed of both previous literature and current death penalty statistics that augments the discussion of the death penalty.

Victimized By The State: How Legislative Inaction Has Led To The Revictimization And Stigmatization Of Victims Of Sex Trafficking, Nicholas R. Larche

Seton Hall Journal of Legislation and Public Policy

No abstract provided.

You Can’T Handle The Truth! Trial Juries And Credibility, Renée Mcdonald Hutchins

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

Saving Oklahoma's "Save Our State" Amendment: Sharia Law In The West And Suggestions To Protect Similar State Legislation From Constitutional Attack, Steven M. Rosato

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

Criminal Accountability And Wall Street Executives: Why The Criminal Provisons Of The Dodd-Frank Act Fall Short, Jennifer G. Chawla

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

Public Support For Stricter Gun Control Laws In America Following The Tragedy At Sandy Hook Elementary, Ryan Jeffrey Hausmann

Theses and Dissertations

The past decade witnessed a considerable increase in public outrage and debates regarding gun control laws, due in large part to several mass shootings across the nation. The purpose of this study is to explore how mass shootings influence attitudes toward gun control. More specifically, this study will examine the respondents' familiarity with the 2012 mass shooting in New Town, Connecticut, and then explore their opinions about whether that shooting reflects isolated acts of troubled individuals, or whether it is a reflection of greater issues, and in turn, how those opinions influence attitudes toward gun control.

Data for this research …

The Effect Of Fluoxetine On Self-Control In Betta Splendens, Kathryn Gwen Lamp

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The present study examined the effect of fluoxetine on self-control in Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens). The subjects included 17 male Betta splendens that were exposed to varying levels of fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor that increases levels of serotonin, and instrumental choice trials were run. A subject began each trial in the start box and, when a guillotine divider door was lifted, entered one side of a divided goal box. The checkerboard side of the choice door represented either the smaller-sooner choice (SS) or the larger-later choice (LL). When the subject had entered one side of the goal …

Examining The Effectiveness Of The Circle Of Security Parenting Dvd Program, Whitney Rostad

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Child maltreatment continues to occur at alarming rates, and while several interventions currently exist for use with parents to minimize the incidence of child maltreatment (Daro & McCurdy, 2007), many can be time consuming for service providers and consumers. One program, the Circle of Security (COS), lasts 20 weeks with weekly sessions lasting approximately 2 hours each (Marvin, Cooper, Hoffman, & Powell, 2002). To make the program more accessible, the program’s originators modified it into a DVD protocol comprising only 8- weeks (Cooper, Hoffman, & Powell, 2009). The current study evaluated the effectiveness of the COS DVD program in improving …

Indefinite Detention As A Democratic Counterterrorism Policy, Jared L. Mcpherson

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Indefinite detention is better defined as “detention without trial,” where the government has no plans for a prisoner’s arraignment, release, or deportation. While this policy has been used by democratic countries in the past and present, it appears to violate a core democratic concept—that of due process of law. This study examines US, British, and French counterterrorism efforts against al-Qaeda, the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and the Armed Islamic Group, to determine which factors are most likely to lead to the employment of indefinite detention. Based on case study analysis, it appears that (1) extraterritoriality and sovereignty, (2) the nature …

In The Box: Voir Dire On Lgbt Issues In Changing Times, Giovanna Shay

Faculty Scholarship

This is the first law review article to examine transcripts, court filings, and published opinions about jury voir dire on attitudes toward same-sex sexuality and LGBT issues. It demonstrates that jurors express a range of homonegative attitudes. Many jurors voicing such beliefs are not removed for cause, even in cases involving lesbian and gay people and issues. It suggests some best practices for voir dire to uncover attitudes toward same-sex sexuality, based on social science research. Voir dire on LGBT issues is likely to become more important in coming years. Despite enormous gains, including historic marriage equality decisions, the LGBT …

The Hanging Judge By Michael A. Ponsor -- A Book Review: Capital Punishment -- Is The Death Penalty Worth The Price?, Beth D. Cohen, Pat K. Newcombe

Faculty Scholarship

In 2000-2001, Judge Ponsor presided over the first death penalty case in Massachusetts in nearly 50 years, United States v. Gilbert. Gilbert’s trial marked only the third time that a federal capital case had gone to trial in a state without the death penalty. According to Ponsor, he felt a particularly heavy responsibility to ensure that both the government and the defense got a fair trial. In fact, in 2001, after the conclusion of the trial, Ponsor did something somewhat unusual for a judge; he wrote a lengthy editorial about the death penalty. He wrote: “[t]he simple question - not …

Post-Release Job Training And Enhanced Access To Employment Opportunities For Released Offenders: Incentives To Reducing Recidivism, Emmanuel Etim Umoh

All ETDs from UAB

Researchers studying the effect of employment on recidivism have shown that offenders who are employed after serving time in prison are less likely to recidivate (Kyvsgaard, 1990). These scholars also indicated that employment for released offenders is positively related to a delay in re-offending. Such findings support the belief that job security increases the interval between release from prison and re-offending. In this study I expand on existing recidivism studies to investigate how post-release job training and greater access to employment opportunities for ex-prisoners affects recidivism. The effect of educational status is also measured to determine whether a high school …

Understanding The Described Experiences Of Court Judges, Court Appointed Special Advocates (Casa) Volunteers, Department Of Human Resources Caseworkers, And Foster Parents, Mitsy Collier Wilbourne

All ETDs from UAB

UNDERSTANDING THE DESCRIBED EXPERIENCES OF COURT JUDGES, COURT APPOINTED SPECIAL ADVOCATES (CASA) VOLUNTEERS, DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES'CASEWORKERS, AND FOSTER PARENTS MITSY COLLIER WILBOURNE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to identify the described experiences of court judges, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) volunteers, Department of Human Resources' caseworkers, and foster parents in the southeastern United States to enhance the early childhood educational needs and development of children in out-of-home care. The study was designed with cases so various perspectives were examined. Children who were neglected and abused, specifically those who must be removed from their parent's …

The Icty Appellate Chamber's Acquittal Of Momcilo Perisic: The Specific Direction Element Of Aiding And Abetting Should Be Rejected Or Modified To Explicitly Include A "Reasonable Person" Due Diligence Standard, Jennifer Trahan, Erin K. Lovall

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.